


pumpkin spice latte

by buck_begins



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck gets a cat, M/M, Mostly Fluff, for now, im going to add more tags as I update this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buck_begins/pseuds/buck_begins
Summary: The one where Buck ends up with a cat, and it changes everything for the better.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 96





	pumpkin spice latte

There was some kind of peace that came with running at 2am that Buck enjoyed. It was just him running most nights. Occasionally he would see another runner, but they kept their distance. There seemed to be the unspoken rule of if they were running that late at night, they likely didn’t want to talk about why they were running that late at night. For Buck, it had almost become part of his routine. If he had the night off, there was a good chance he would go for his late night run. If he was at the station, he would go and work out until he was exhausted or a call came in. He just needed something to take his mind off. There was only so many times he could relive the same nightmares over and over again.

_Doug. Fire Truck bombing. Tsunami. Embolism. The Well._

The nightmares repeated in a loop, playing almost a highlight reel of his most traumatic events from the last year. When he thought Chimney was dead on the ground from Doug. When he thought he was going to find Maddie’s body somewhere when Doug realized she wasn’t going with him. When he got crushed by a firetruck, and was helplessly pinned while the rest of the crew could have been blown up. When he lost Christopher in the tsunami. When his own body fought against him and would have killed him if it had been any other time. When he lost the weight on Eddie’s rope, and knew the rest of the team thought he was dead. So many times things could have gone wrong in his life, and so many times things could have been even worse.

He knew he should probably go to therapy with his issues, he knew Frank helped Maddie and Eddie out. But his last run in with therapy didn’t go super well, and he didn’t have much faith it wouldn’t be the same this time. He didn’t necessarily want to talk about his issues, and deflecting with sex was easier. So he ran instead. He ran until he was so tired he could barely walk. The nightmares couldn’t come if his brain was too tired to think. It never seemed to work right off the bat, like his brain somehow needed the nightmare to happen. Probably had something to do with unprocessed trauma, but that wasn’t something he really wanted to process.

Buck zoned out while running, trying to let his mind be as blank as possible. There was music playing through his headphones, but he couldn’t have told you what he was listening to. He just focused on running, paying vague attention to his surroundings to make sure he didn’t run into anything. He should maybe have paid attention to his shoes, and he would have noticed the loose lace on his shoe before he tripped over it.

Firefighter Buckley was graceful, knew how to control his limbs, and was nimble. He could pull off the most complex of rescues with no issues. Evan Buckley on the other hand, was a complete mess. He tripped, and managed to flail himself into an even worse position. Instead of landing on his front, he flipped himself and he landed hard on his side before rolling on his back. He knew as soon as he landed there was going to be a bruise. He didn’t think anything was broken, but he was certainly going to feel this in the morning.

Accepting his fate, Buck stayed laying on the ground. He stared up at the dark night sky, almost asking for a sign. He just wanted something, something to remind him that eventually things would go back to normal. That he would eventually be able to sleep through the night, and not have to run to force a dreamless sleep. The starless sky seemed to taunt him, refusing to give him the answers he wanted. The stars would not help him tonight.

He had no clue how long he stayed there, hoping for an answer. He eventually realized that one wasn’t going to come. He pushed himself off the ground, and started heading back towards his apartment. He could feel the slight tug against his bruised skin, but he kept going. It would be easier to deal with back in the privacy of his apartment. There was nothing he could do bruises anyway. All he could do was clean the dirt off him. He didn’t have to work later that day, so at least he could have time to heal. The team would undoubtedly ask him about the bruises, and yes he was clumsy, but they would still worry. They were busy people, this wasn’t something he needed them worrying about. When he actually got injured, then they could worry.  
A sound from the alley next to him startled him out of his thoughts. There was something moving near the dumpster at the very back. People may have told Buck he did stupid things, but he was doing his stupidest yet when he walked down the alley to investigate. The stars may not have helped him, but something certainly did. There was no danger in that alley that night, instead there was a small brown cat foraging for food. Buck felt any tension ease out of his body when he saw the tiny shape. He probably should have been a little more careful, but running into danger was his job.

“Hey buddy, how about I take you back home with me and we find a shelter for you tomorrow? The streets are no place for a cat like you.” Buck spoke gently as he leaned down to scoop the cat up. There was a meow of protest, but the kitten was too weak to put up much of a fight. It wasn’t a good sign at all. He was going to take the kitten home just for the night, and he would bring it to a shelter in the morning. Buck was not going to get attached to this cat, he didn’t have the schedule for a pet.

Buck wasted no time taking the cat back to his apartment, and straight to the bathroom. It was clear the cat was covered in dirt, and he really wasn’t going to let the poor animal stay like that. He tried to make the bath as quick and painless for the cat as possible. Luckily for him, the cat didn’t seem to mind the warm water or the extra pets it got as Buck tried to get all the dirt out of his fur. It didn’t take too long before the water was brown, and the cat was orange. He really thought it was going to be a black cat or maybe a tabby, but he figured the cat’s colouring might help it get adopted then. He scooped the kitten up out of the bath, and wrapped it in a towel.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” How about we go and get you some food?” He gently kept drying the cat off as he walked down the stairs. “I need something to call you, just calling you The Cat in my head doesn’t seem right.”

The cat replied with a small meow, as if they were agreeing. Buck put them down on the counter, and dried them off with the towel a bit more. “Don’t get used to being on the counter. It’s a one time thing, I don’t want to lose you in the apartment. Your new owners won’t like it I’m sure.”

Buck turned his back quickly to grab some food out of the fridge. He wasn’t exactly prepared to have a cat, and he didn’t think he really had the food for it. He googled what cats could eat, and after looking at at least 3 conflicting articles, he figured the cooked chicken he had was the best bet. He turned around, but the cat had moved from where he left him, next to the small pumpkin decoration Maddie had bought him.

“Huh, Pumpkin wouldn’t be too bad of a name. What do you think of Pumpkin?’ He asked the cat, who came walking back over to him. “Pumpkin it is then.” It was sort of a fitting name, Pumpkin was a vibrant orange cat with green eyes. A cute name would definitely help him get adopted. Giving Pumpkin a name was probably a mistake, Buck couldn’t get attached to the cat. He didn’t have the kind of lifestyle that supported a pet.

He cut the chicken up into small chunks for Pumpkin to eat. He was guessing that he was old enough to eat solid foods, but honestly Buck wasn’t sure. Pumpkin started to eat it, and Buck took that as a good sign. He put a small bowl of water down next to the food. He watched as the cat ate, and looked up the local shelters. There were 5 nearby he was going to call in the morning.

It didn’t take long for Pumpkin to finish eating the food Buck set out. He wanted to feed Pumpkin more, but he also didn’t want to clean any cat puke up in the morning. He scooped Pumpkin back up, and headed up the stairs.

“Don’t get used to being carried around either. You may be a baby, but I don’t know if your owner will want to carry you around like this.” Pumpkin purred in response. That was probably more to do with the fact Buck was petting him more than anything else. Buck was very pointedly ignoring how happy Pumpkin looked. He wasn’t good material for a cat dad. He had a busy schedule, and honestly he forgot to take care of himself sometimes. Plus, he didn’t know if Eddie and Chris were allergic to cats and he wouldn’t want them to stop coming over because of a cat. He was pretty sure Eddie wasn’t, but then again Buck always seemed to end up on cat rescue duty out of the two of them. He should probably ask Eddie regardless, not related to Pumpkin at all. It was a good thing to know your friend's allergies.

Buck put Pumpkin down on the spare pillow on the bed. “Now you stay here. I’m going to take a shower, but I assume you don’t wanna be in there with me. Just please don’t destroy anything.” He didn’t have the highest hopes nothing would happen. He didn’t even have a litter box, and just took a stray off the street who has claws that could shred things. He made his shower as fast as possible, not wanting to leave Pumpkin alone for too long, and not wanting to get caught in his thoughts either.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he pulled his phone out to take a photo of Pumpkin curled up on the pillow sleeping. He took the photo, and promised himself he would delete it once he dropped Pumpkin off at the shelter. He kept telling himself he wouldn’t get attached as he got back into bed. He couldn’t have a cat, he would just keep telling himself that and maybe he would accept it. If his hand reached out to pet Pumpkin as he was falling asleep, well that was his own business and no one had to know.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try and update this twice a week. It's all finished, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to edit it again I'm sure. Come clown with me if you want on Tumblr @bucks-little-hop


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